You Could Be Happy
by Sarstarel
Summary: Songfic "You Could Be Happy" by Snow Patrol. A wee bit on the sad side. Ginny/Draco. Rated T for mild language.


I don't own Harry Potter or the song. Due credit goes where it belongs; the marvelous J.K. Rowling and the fabulous Snow Patrol.

You Could Be Happy by Snow Patrol

**You could be happy**

**And I won't know**

Draco woke up reaching for her. And then he remembered. She was gone. He was alone because he hadn't given her what she needed. Draco leaned back and stared at the ceiling blankly. She was with Potter now, and everything was back to the way it should have been. But not the way he wanted it…

**But you weren't happy **

**The day I watched you go**

"_Draco, I've had enough. I can't do it anymore! I can't watch you go out with Purebloods like Pansy Parkinson to please your parents while I'm waiting for you at home! I just -I just-"_

_Ginny broke off, and covered her face. Draco watched her shoulders shaking, but when he reached for her Ginny backed away. She shook her head, and Draco could feel the first waves of pain. _

_She didn't want him. She couldn't stay with him while he figured out how to handle his family. She was leaving him. And all Draco could think to do was cling to his pride._

"_Yes, I suppose that would be best, since you are not pleased with our arrangements."_

_When she heard Draco's indifferent tone, Ginny flinched. She looked at him and saw that he wasn't willing to choose her. She meant that little to him. _

_There was really only one choice to make…Ginny grabbed her bag, squared her shoulders and walked away._

**And all thing things **

**That I wish I had not said**

**Are played on loops **

'**Till it's madness in my head**

Draco tried to go back to sleep, but he could only remember everything he had said to Ginny and everything he should have said.

"_Ginny, it's not as simple as telling my parents about us. I thought you were smart enough to understand that."_

_Ginny's amber eyes heated as she looked at Draco. She sat up from the bed, shook her long red hair away from her face and tugged the sheet up until it covered her body. _

_Draco watched her move, and couldn't help but admire her. She was beautiful and timeless. And she was still incredibly pissed at him._

"_Draco, if you see this relationship progressing beyond the sex, you'll need to tell them eventually. It's only going to get harder with time, and you damn well know it." _

_She stumbled out of bed and wrapped the sheet around her while looking for her discarded clothes. _

_Draco rolled his eyes. They had had this conversation at least once every week for the few months. And it wasn't getting any easier._

"_And one more thing," Ginny growled as she spun to face Draco again. "You tell that cow Pansy Parkinson that if she has an ounce of brain behind that hideously dyed hair, she'll stop stroking you in inappropriate places!"_

_Draco smirked (after Ginny was safely facing the other direction, of course) and thought he heard Ginny muttering something about "public places" and "disgraceful hussies."_

"_It's only to keep up appearances, love. My parents can't handles us right now, that's all."_

_Draco had reclined back on the bed, so he didn't see Ginny's back stiffen. And, of course, he couldn't have seen her eyes fill with tears._

If Draco could've, he would have taken everything back. He would have professed his undying love, and taken out a front page ad in the Daily Prophet proclaiming his love for Ginerva Weasley. Maybe then he wouldn't be so miserable.

**Is it too late to remind you**

**How we were**

Draco began to doze, and his dream was a glorious one:

_Draco was patrolling the hallways of Hogwarts, and he saw a flash of red disappear into a classroom. Draco quickened his pace, and darted in behind his current obsession. _

_Ginny whirled when she heard the door open again, and her heart sped up when she saw the familiar gleam of Draco's platinum blond hair. _

"_Well, look who it is."_

_Draco began casually strolling toward her with seductive menace in his every step. _

_Ginny started backing away from him without taking her eyes from his face. She knew what he was about, and just thinking about it caused her heart to go into overdrive. _

_Draco watched Ginny drifting further back, so he continued his slow but steady progress toward her. Finally, Ginny backed into the wall, and Draco pounced._

_He caged her against the wall, with an arm on either side of her waist. Ginny couldn't pull away, and with his face inches away from hers, she wasn't sure she wanted to._

_Draco leaned in, a breath away from her lips, before changing directions to run his mouth along her jaw. He heard Ginny sigh, then he whispered in her ear, "You've been avoiding me, Red."_

_Ginny was struggling to hold on to her sanity enough to respond._

"_No, I –I wasn't. I was just…oh God," Ginny broke off as Draco began nibbling his way from her ear to the opening of her shirt, while pulling her body flush against his._

"_You were avoiding me, Ginerva. And all because I proved that you want me."_

_Ginny looked straight up into Draco's grey eyes and denied everything. "I don't want you."_

_Draco's lips quirked. "Really, Red?" Draco pushed her against the wall so that she was more effectively trapped. _

"_Prove it." Draco crushed his mouth to Ginny's, surging into her mouth when she gasped. Ginny's protests died before they were born. All she could think was that she had to get closer. On a moan, Ginny speared her fingers into Draco's hair, pulling his face closer. _

_Draco would have laughed triumphantly if he hadn't been too busy getting lost in her. Draco had known countless women, but no one had made him hunger like she did. _

_And, just like that, Draco knew everything had changed. _

…

**And not our last days of silence**

**Screaming, blur**

…

Then the dream changed.

"_Ginny, please talk to me." Draco pleaded with her, but she had made up her mind. Until he made up his, Ginny was through talking to him._

_Draco could feel his patience wearing thin. "You're behaving like a petulant child. No, I can't take you out in public so that I can show you off. But, damn it, am I not good enough for you by myself?"_

_Ginny spun around to glare at him, screaming, "You know that isn't what this is about Draco! This is about you caring more for your Pureblood image than you do for me! And don't you dare try to turn this around!"_

_Draco threw his hands in the hair and sneered. "Well, the image happens to be giving me a lot more satisfaction than you, love. So it's really the smart choice."_

_The color in Ginny's face drained. She looked down for a moment, then walked up to Draco and slapped him._

_Draco was already ashamed of what he had said, but his pride dictated that he have the last word._

"_Thank you, Miss Weasley, for this wonderful interlude. Now, if you don't mind, I have a date with Miss Parkinson and she hates it when I'm late."_

_Without another word, Draco Apparated away, leaving Ginny to weep and to make her decision._

**Most of what I remember**

**Makes me sure**

**I should have stopped you from walking**

**Out the door**

Draco woke in a cold sweat, memories of Ginny's stricken face haunting him. Draco sat up in bed, wracked with regrets. If he had just given her what she wanted, she would be with him. Draco liked to think that they could've made it. But what the hell did he know? He hadn't thought that Malfoy pride was stronger than love, and how wrong he proved to be.

**You could be happy**

**I hope you are**

Draco rolled out of bed and stumbled to his apartment kitchen. The Daily Prophet was already on the table and, after getting some coffee, Draco began to thumb through it. When Draco hit the Society pages, he stopped. On the front page of the section stood Harry Potter and his blushing bride Ginerva Weasley –now Potter. Draco felt the familiar pain in his heart, followed by relief. She looked happy. After putting up with him for eight years, the least she deserved was happiness. Draco smiled when he saw that she was wearing his favorite color on her –white. She looked like an angel...but Draco's smile faded when he remembered that she wasn't his angel anymore.

**You made me happier**

**Than I'd been by far**

As Draco got ready for work, he remembered how it had felt to be with Ginny. How happy he had been.

_Ginny stood in the doorway watching while Draco shaved. He kept losing his concentration when he caught her eye in the mirror. And a lack of concentration meant bloodshed and a giggling woman. Who was absolutely adorable when she giggled. Draco found himself slipping just to see the light in her eyes._

_Draco couldn't remember if he'd ever felt this light and carefree before. And he didn't think it was the loss of blood._

…

_Draco held her as she slept, exhausted by her day. Draco softly stroked her hair as he remembered what she had told him._

"_Draco," she had said, after getting home from work, "I don't know how I could get through the day without you. You're what I want to come home to every night, and just seeing you is enough to satisfy me." She laughed. "Am I getting sentimental, or what?"_

_Draco had kissed the laugh from her face._

…

It had been five months, but Draco could still remember the smell of her hair, the sounds she made when he touched her, and her perfect calm and strength that he had grown to depend on. She was everything to him, even if he hadn't told her often enough.

**Somehow everything I own**

**Smells of you**

**And for the tiniest moment**

**It's all not true**

Draco pulled on his suit, grabbed his briefcase and was about to get in the Floo when he remembered that he didn't have his coat. Draco crossed to the side closet, opened the door, and collapsed in agony. The closet hadn't been opened since Ginny had left, and it smelled so strongly of her that the pain of her absence seemed a thousand times sharper. If Draco closed his eyes, it was almost like she was still there. But everyone has to open their eyes eventually.

**Do the things **

**That you always wanted to**

**Without me there to hold you back,**

**Don't think just do**

Draco still followed her progress in her career, the risks she was able to take now that she didn't have Draco holding her back. Draco had never wanted her to reach her full potential. He was afraid she would stop needing him. She had loved him enough to put up with his demands. So without Draco, Ginny had become one of the most influential Aurors in the Ministry of Magic.

Ginny was excelling in her career, and could now be seen in public with her lover. Draco couldn't blame her for wanting that, as much as he tried to. She was better off without him, and he would never stop trying to convince his heart to heal.

**More than anything else**

**I want to see you go**

**Take a glorious bite out**

**Of the whole world. **

Draco knew that he would always miss her, that he would always love her, and that he could never have her. But he would look after her from the sidelines, and watch her take on the world. After all, his girl would never do anything less.


End file.
